Many devices have been developed over the years to aid people in the movement and transportation of items that otherwise would be too heavy or unwieldy to move. There exists a multitude of powered devices such as cranes, forklifts, hydraulic ramps, etc. that simplify moving. A similar variety of non-powered devices also exist for people to choose from. Non-powered devices, such as pulleys, ropes, clamps, levers and hand trucks, are commonly available to consumers. The ease of use of contemporary hand trucks makes the hand truck an ideal tool for transporting heavy objects and has led to the common use of hand trucks by tremendous numbers of people.
The wide utilization of hand trucks has caused many manufacturers to research improvements in the design of the modem hand truck. Today, industrial quality hand trucks are produced that have frames made of sturdier, tougher materials to simplify transporting appliances and other items that are too large for smaller sized hand trucks. These industrial quality hand trucks are useful for transporting exceedingly larger items, and are often even capable of handling appliances or equipment that are much greater in size than the user who is navigating the hand truck.
One drawback of current hand trucks is the lack of features and capabilities to help users manage large, heavy loads and provide adequate safety precautions. Basic features, such as straps, are commonly used to hold the load in place on the hand truck and prevent it from moving or falling off the truck. However, exceptionally heavy loads often require additional safety features to prevent injury to the user. For example, the common procedure for using hand trucks is to tip the truck to a given angle, such as 45 degrees, to balance the primary weight of the load on the wheels. However, when tipping the truck, exceptionally heavy loads may be hard to manage and may pull the truck away from the user, risking both injury to the user and damage to the load.
Additionally, some trucks include safety features that can be deployed by the user to assist in handling and navigating the truck when handling large loads. However, often times, users are required to take at least one hand off of the primary handling location of the hand truck in order to activate or deploy such safety or load assist features. Removing one or both hands from the hand truck may be dangerous and maybe defeat the purpose of the safety feature altogether if the load or truck becomes unstable.
Accordingly, an improved hand truck is needed in the art.